By Neil Blackshaw < Back Towards Planetary Health - Revisiting the Social Determinants of Health Model June 2021 By Neil Blackshaw The way we choose to view health has a profound influence of how we pursue it. The World Health Organisation (WHO) at its foundation in 1946 defined health as “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity”. However, already by this time, following the advent of modern antibiotics and the emerging belief that medicine could cure everything, the medical model health, that is, the focus on doctors and clinical intervention, became more and more dominant. The WHO definition however, points the way to a more holistic conception in the struggle to achieve better health and leads to the recognition of how social conditions have a profound effect on health. This in turn suggests that it is the context of people’s lives that to a large extent determines their health. This in itself was obviously not a new idea — after all the genesis of modern town planning was very closely associated with the struggle to improve health and predicated on the role of the environment in achieving that. But with the growing dominance of the medical model that realisation was pushed into the background. However, it slowly began to reassert itself and what became known as the Social Determinants of Health (SDH) model thus gained currency in the 1990’s as a ‘counter weight’ to the continuing hegemony of the medical model of health. Its clearest expression, in a simple but effective ‘rainbow’ diagram, was suggested by Dahlgren and Whitehead https://esrc.ukri.org/about-us/50-years-ofesrc/50-achievements/the-dahlgren-whitehead-rainbow/ . This basic diagram has been enhanced in subsequent years, in particular by Barton and Grant. What is, at least on the surface, a simple diagram, it seeks to illustrate the myriad influences on health as successive layers from the core genetic factors to the broader social, economic and environmental context within which people and communities live. The genetic and personal factors became known as proximal and the wider, what might be termed more distant factors as distal. Simple it may appear but the model is potentially very powerful and despite remaining marginal to mainstream approaches to health the influence of the model was sustained and informed an increasing number of WHO initiatives and reports such as its Health in All strategy. The latter was an attempt to integrate health perspectives in multiple strands of public polices outwith the strictly medical health programmes, such as Universal Health Care. These developments were accompanied by a growing realisation of the increasing impact of non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Sometimes termed diseases of affluence these were, paradoxically it seemed beginning to seriously impact poor communities, increasing mortality and morbidity and imposing what was termed a ‘double burden’ on the poorest countries with persistent rates of communicable disease being accompanied by rising rates of NCDs resulting in diabetes, obesity, and cardio-vascular disease (CVD). The social determinants model offered clear insights into this process and focussed attention on the causes of ill health as distinct from the continuing and absolutely necessary efforts to improve mainstream healthcare and clinical practice. The WHO developed strategies for addressing NCDs which drew attention to the importance of physical activity, diet and increasingly air pollution. This awareness and strategy development was also widely reflected in health policy in high income countries with an increasing focus on obesity and physical activity, the latter being characterised by the UK’s Chief Medical Officer as a ‘wonder drug’. The growing realisation and insight into the ‘environmental’ or distal causes began to be reflected, we might more accurately say reintroduced, in urban planning strategies as planning for health became a distinctive strand of theoretical and policy thinking. The term obesogenic environments was coined and there are now many examples of codes and toolkits for pursuing healthy or ‘salutogenic’ outcomes. It is nevertheless still difficult to conclude that this approach has achieved more than a marginal effect on planning policies. It is clearly consistent or complementary to more mainstream concepts as ‘compact’ towns and cities but in which health is envisaged not so much as a principle but a contingent outcome. Planning for healthcare also remains fragmented, illcoordinated and often reactive with relatively few examples of strategic spatial integration of health and planning strategies. So, should the social determinants of health model still be guiding the approach to planning and development given the new context and global challenges that we face? Whilst it offers powerful if under-used insights into the causes of morbidity and mortality it is important to stress that the various societal and environmental realms within it are treated as ‘determinants’ in a mechanistic and static way. The model is thus deterministic and not truly interactive or dynamic. In other words the various influences are treated as exogenous and the possibility, indeed probability, of their being influenced in turn by other proximate and distal factors and in particular human actions are not explicitly accounted for. If a more dynamic approach were adopted that, for instance, incorporated feedback loops whether negative or positive the power of the model would, it can be suggested, be significantly enhanced. Such a new or adjusted perspective would illuminate the generation and role of the truly distal causes such as climate change and biodiversity loss and the more proximate such as local air pollution. Such an approach would also offer an alternative perspective to conventional planning and health strategies which tend to treat health as a fragmented, contingent variable. The New Urban Agenda and in some respects the Social Development Goals (SDGs) for instance, deal with health as such as a desirable outcome - that arises from addressing pollution, lack of open space, contaminated waste water for instance rather than as a fundamental and cross cutting aim of urban policy. The concept of a “healthy city” in a more holistic perspective would be viewed as a functioning self-supporting organism rather than simply as an urban area in which most people could be said to be healthy. Similarly, expanding the scale, a vision of a healthy planet would be one in which ecosystems were functioning in a stable way to sustain health in the various biomes and in human populations. The human impact on biomes would in itself be seen to constitute a major determinant of the conditions for health. Thus in only one example, the destruction of vegetation and tree cover in the Great Rift Valley in Kenya has led to rapidly rising lake levels that have destroyed livelihoods and are threatening both settlements and fishing and farming. In this case human intervention has effectively fashioned the environmental and economic determinants of individual and community health in a very damaging way. The same is true of course at a global scale of the damage caused to the ozone layer by CFCs and by excess concentrations of CO2 leading to climate heating. In this sense escalating climate change and environment degradation is quintessentially a health issue. It follows that dealing solely with the downstream effects will inevitably be frustrated. Climate change and collapse of biodiversity may thus be said to be the principal ‘cause of the causes’; the ultimate distal determinants. This change of perspective requires the social determinants of health model to be considerably enhanced or expanded. The concept of planetary health which has been gaining currency in fact demands such a change in perspective. At its heart would an interactive integrated model of the planet in which the health or effective functioning of each component or subsystem demands the health or effective functioning of the others. The emphasis thus shifts upwards in the casual chain. Struggling to control and reduce high levels of intestinal disease in a settlement where the water supply is continually contaminated is an impossible and unrelenting task. So it is for the island dwellers and those in flood and monsoon-prone coastal areas as sea levels rise and weather events become inexorably more severe. Many countries in the Commonwealth have weak manufacturing and tertiary production and rely heavily on primary resources and in this sense they are disproportionately at risk from the deterioration of climatic conditions and loss of biodiversity. The causes and the effects are by no means co-terminus and acting as if they are however wellmeaning, is futile. The shift in perspective being suggested, if translated into action, would potentially have very significant benefits for the health and well-being of the people of the Commonwealth by enabling the better capture of synergies between health, planning and biodiversity interventions. It would thus contribute to the delivery of the SDGs and provide an enhanced framework for sustainable cities. Previous Back to Top Next

05 March 2018 < Back Leading Change: New free book points way for planning across the Commonwealth 05 March 2018 Traditional planning has to change and change quickly. This is the message that opens a new, free-to-download book. Leading Change: Delivering the New Urban Agenda through Urban and Territorial Planning was launched at the Ninth World Urban Forum in February 2018. It provides a short, easy to read advocacy of the way that planning practice can contribute to addressing some of the major challenges that the Commonwealth, and so also the world, faces in the 21st century. The book argues that planning systems, and many of the practices and assumptions they embody, were largely formed in the last century, before concerns like climate change, human rights, food security or resilience came to the fore. The New Urban Agenda, agreed by the governments in Quito in 2016 at Habitat III, identifies urban and territorial planning as one of three key areas for action. It says “The quality of urban planning and design has a determining impact on the value generated by human settlements through efficient and equitable public space, streets and building areas”. So how can we rise to this challenge? The book sets out a Manifesto for Planning. It says that urban and territorial planning needs to: Be global in outlook; Be based in human rights; Integrate development with infrastructure; Be informed by budgets and be robust; Secure political legitimacy; Be tuned to subsidiarity and diversity; Be clear, simple and rapid; and Respect and capitalise upon the special characteristics of places. Chapters contain questions addressed to national governments, local governments and their associations, civil society organisation, and professionals and their associations. For example, the chapter on governance asks professional planning institutes whether women, young planners and members of minority groups are fully involved in the governance of the association? Is the Code of Professional Practice fully attuned to a human-rights based approach to practice? The International Guidelines UN-Habitat has published a set of International Guidelines for Urban and Territorial Planning. Their preparation was the result of cooperation amongst an international group of experts led by former CAP President Christine Platt. Leading Change is a sister volume to the Guidelines. It takes them and explains in a more narrative form just why they are important and how planners and others can use them. For example, the Guidelines point to the part that planning can play in increasing human security through management of natural and environmental hazards and risks. Leading Change then discusses the issue of food security, drawing on the work that CAP has done in this field. It notes that the New Urban Agenda identifies urban planning and design as a way to strengthen food system planning and urban resilience. The book then drills into more detail in discussing peri-urban development and urban agriculture, with a mini-case study, before concluding “By nurturing and sustaining local food networks, planners can boost local incomes and reduce the “food miles” travelled between producer and consumer, thereby contributing to reducing carbon emissions. Click here to download a copy of the guidelines They are “intended to be a framework for improving global policies, plans, designs and implementation processes, which will lead to more compact, socially inclusive, better integrated and connected cities and territories that foster sustainable urban development and are resilient to climate change.” CAP and its member associations can play a big part in raising awareness and using this document. Leading Change challenges us all to do what we can Some planners will find Leading Change uncomfortable; all will find it challenging. The book argues that detailed regulation of land use change is expensive, not affordable in some countries, and difficult to deliver effectively and equitably under conditions of rapid urbanisation. The authors argue that in much of the world informal development and informal economic activities are facts of life that are integral to the survival of some of the poorest people, and so should be tolerated by planners. Similarly, gender is seen as an important planning matter, though it has attracted little attention in the past. The International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women is one of the core human rights: planning practice should embed it in the design of transport infrastructure, the planning of employment opportunities, and the structuring of public involvement, to give a few examples. The book was commissioned by the South African Local Government Association and the South African Department of Human Settlements and UN-Habitat. In a Foreword they collectively say “We hope that this book will help national governments, local and regional authorities and their networks, professional associations, and civil society networks, across the globe, to engage with planning and use it as tool to deliver sustainable, inclusive, resilient and safe cities and human settlements.” Click here to download a copy of 'Leading Change' 2018-Leading-Change-Book.jpg 2018-Leading-Change-Book.jpg 1/1

07 July 2016 < Back CAPs Young Planners Leader Wins Prestigious Planning Award 07 July 2016 Viral Desai, the leader of CAPs young planners network, has won the 2015 Young Planner of the Year Award from the UKs Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI). Viral was one of 4 short listed candidates and the winner was announced at the RTPI Awards Ceremony held on 6 July at London’s Shaw Theatre in front of an audience of over 400 planners. Viral received the Award from RTPI President Janet Askew and Steve Quartermain, the UK Government’s Chief Planner. Clive Harridge, CAPs Secretary-General said: “The Award is thoroughly deserved and reflects Viral’s outstanding work as head of CAP’s Young Planners Network which has expanded substantially under his leadership. The Award also recognises Viral’s contribution to the West Midlands RTPI and his excellent work as a Consultant with Amec Foster Wheeler. Congratulations Viral!” Roisin Willmott, RTPI Awards Advisor said: “The judges found Viral to be very personable and an enthusiastic planner with good knowledge of the planning system, and clear views as to the role of planning in promoting sustainable development. Viral is a strong role model for other planners and engaging people in the planning story. He has contributed a great deal to the institute, the Commonwealth Association of Planners and through his outreach work.” The RTPI represents 23,000 planning professionals worldwide and promotes spatial planning, shapes policy and raises professional standards. The Awards for Planning Excellence have been run by the RTPI for over 30 years to recognise planning excellence. RTPI Awards for Planning Excellence . 2016-NEWS-ITEM-CAPs-YPs-Leader-Wins-Award.jpg 2016-NEWS-ITEM-CAPs-YPs-Leader-Wins-Award.jpg 1/1

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09 May 2018 < Back Trudi Elliott CBE MRTPI, Appointed as CAP Patron 09 May 2018 CAP is honoured to announce the appointment of Trudi Elliot CBE MRTPI as Patron of CAP. The appointment, which had been agreed by the CAP Executive Committee, was formally announced by CAPs President Dyan Currie at a dinner held in London on 18 April 2018. The dinner was hosted by the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) for international guests on the occasion of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting taking place in London at the time. The role of Patron is for a two year period and includes being an ambassador for the organisation and helping promote its objectives. Trudi is CAPs first and only Patron. Trudi has had a stellar planning career and is highly regarded in the UK an internationally. Trudi is a Chartered Town Planner and held the post of RTPI Chief Executive between 2011 and April 2018. Trudi shaped the RTPI Centenary Year programme and the Planning Horizons papers which provide a long term, global view of planning. Trudi has a wide-ranging and in-depth knowledge of planning, where she has worked in one capacity or another for the past twenty years. She has also worked as a lawyer in both the public and private sectors. Trudi has been active within the Global Planners Network and has worked closely with CAP, ISOCARP and IFHP. Trudi is a member of the American Planning Association and was instrumental in the establishment of the UK Built Environment Professionals group supporting the humanitarian sector on responding to humanitarian disasters. Trudi attended and spoke at Habitat 111 in 2016 and WUF in Naples in 2014. Trudi has sat on partnership Boards and accreditation panels for the University of Botswana, the University of Cape Town, the University of Hong Kong and the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Trudi writes and speaks extensively on Planning and the environment it operates in. Trudi was made a Commander of the British Empire in 2010 and was awarded a Papal medal in the same year for her contribution to the safety and planning of the Pope’s visit to the UK. Clive Harridge, Secretary- General 2018-Trudi-Elliot-Patron-of-CAP.jpg 2018-Trudi-Elliot-Patron-of-CAP.jpg 1/1

CAP Strategic Plan 2026 to 2028 Our Mission The Commonwealth Association of Planners exists to advance professional planning through advocacy, capacity building, promoting good practices and knowledge sharing in the development of sustainable human settlements. Our Vision Planning is a respected, valued, and inclusive profession across the Commonwealth and globally. Strategic Goals Strengthen and advance the profession and its capacity to assist in the delivery of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the New Urban Agenda. Foster strategic, collaborative partnerships to promote good planning practices, sustainability, and environmental protection. Enhance membership supports, services and engagement. Build the capacity for planning globally. Establish and support professional planning societies in the Commonwealth. See the full Strategic Plan with Key Actions and the Monitoring Strategy

08 May 2017 < Back World Urban Forum 08 May 2017 The capital of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, will host the Ninth session of the World Urban Forum (WUF9) in 2018. UN-Habitat, the United Nations Human Settlements Programme, as the convener of WUF, announced the decision on Monday 3 November as the culmination of a six months bidding process. United Nations Under-Secretary-General and UN-Habitat Executive Director, Dr. Joan Clos, has informed Minister of Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government of Malaysia, Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan, of the decision during the Fifth Asia Pacific Ministerial Conference on Housing and Urban Development (APMCHUD) that is currently being held in Seoul, Republic of Korea, from 3 to 5 November 2014. After the bilateral meeting held with the Minister, Dr. Clos remarked that, in addition to its excellent bid, Kuala Lumpur was “bringing the WUF back to Asia. The continent has hosted the Forum once in 2008 in Nanjing, China, but it is where more than half of the world’s urban population lives,” he said. “This region has accounted for about 65 per cent of the demographic expansion of all urban areas across the world since the beginning of the 21st century.” Clos extended his congratulations to the city of Kuala Lumpur and the Government of Malaysia for its commitment towards sustainable urban development by hosting the Forum. “At the World Urban Forum, thousands of stakeholders meet every two years to share practices and knowledge on how cities are built, planned and managed”. WUF9 will be the first Forum to be held after the Post 2015 Development Agenda Process and the United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development – Habitat III in 2016. The Habitat conference is a global legislative conference organized every 20 years to review and define the urban agenda and pave the way for UN-Habitat’s vision towards a new urban future. Click here for full details NEWS-ITEM-2018-World-Forum-2.jpg NEWS-ITEM-2018-World-Forum-2.jpg 1/1

20 November 2018 < Back CAP Young Planners at CAP Business Meeting and Planning - Africa 2018 20 November 2018 Cape Town and CAP’s involvement in the Planning Africa Conference was excellent. The CAP Business Meeting was interesting with the WUF and Commonwealth Summit in the next two years there is a lot of room to be expanding the Young Planners agenda, our activities and promoting the SDGs further in the Commonwealth context. A key highlight was the launch of our Women in Planning Manifesto and the launch of our Young Planners Call for Practice , which aims to find ideas across the Commonwealth for engaging better with Young People . CAP was able to be a large part of the Planning Africa Conference, with a number of us speaking at a Plenary about Africa and the Commonwealth: The achievement of the New Urban Agenda, where we advocated for the localization of the SDGs, ensuring that they were seen positively and applied to local contexts. I was also proud to present the CAP Youth Manifesto to the Young Planners Colloquium trying to inspire Young Planners to move forward and change the status quo in the profession. It was also the inaugural CAP awards , which seen Bay of Plenty Regional Council, Enfocus, GNS Science & Integrity Professionals Limited in New Zealand win 1st prize for a project titled Innovative risk-based planning & engagement for Natural Hazards. It was very much a different experience to the discussions we have in the UK around Planning. I felt that the discussions at the Planning Africa Conference were very much progressive, focussed on governance, partnerships and tackling some of the problems that have been passed down through a colonial planning system. Planners were passionate and were acting as activists, fighting for more social justice, environmental sustainability whilst trying to be progressive about economic development throughout Africa. Government from local, regional to national, had a strong role to play in the future of South Africa and that was very much apparent from the plenary and the attendance at the Conference. It valued Local Government and seen the benefits that it can have in making positive change for the people of Africa. The issues still resonated to some level in the UK- housing, economic development and the need to deliver infrastructure across the Continent. Planners were felt to be empowered not only by their peers but by politician, NGOs and the wider built environment sector. They were told fight for a better system, one that represented Africa, and challenge politicians who do not listen to their views. Overall it was an experience I will not forget, one that allowed me to see different planning contexts, the practices that were taking place, the value others place on Governance/Government and how we could learn from other parts of the Commonwealth and apply them to our own context. Joanna Patton (Canadian Institute of Planners) and Wessel Strydom (South African Planning Institute) our CAP Essay winners also attended the CAP biennial Business Meeting and Planning Africa 2018 in Cape Town, South Africa 14-17 October 2018. They have both provided their thoughts on the conference, what they learnt and provided some excellent insights about the profession as a whole in the Commonwealth: A copy of their article is available here: Joanna Patton (Canadian Institute of Planners) Wessel Strydom (South African Planning Institute) For me it was a pleasure to meet both of these excellent town planners. We talked about each of our different planning regimes and talked about the importance of the Commonwealth in helping to deliver the SDGs. They both provided great insights into their planning careers in both South Africa and Canada and it was great to learn from them. I look forward to another 2 years of promoting Town Planning across the Commonwealth, and look forward to meeting more inspiring and enthusiastic Young Planners, like Joanna and Wessel, in the near future. Viral Desai CAP Young Planners Co-ordinator 2018_CAP_YPs_at_Business_Meeting.jpg 2018_CAP_YPs_at_Business_Meeting.jpg 1/1

By Jenna Dutton, Member of the CAP Women in Planning Network < Back Women and Planning During COVID-19 5 June 2020 By Jenna Dutton, Member of the CAP Women in Planning Network Over the past months, it has become increasingly clear that the decades of work done to move the dial toward greater gender equity have quickly reverted back due to a lack of effective action. How can we harness the lessons learned during and post pandemic recovery and plan for cities that continuously strive for gender equality and inclusivity? This year the advent of International Women’s Day came at a time when most countries across the globe were contemplating lockdown measures to ensure physical distancing and limit the spread of COVID-19. The announcement by UN Women in early March that the progress towards gender equality is lagging was subsequently overshadowed by the mass media surge on the global crisis. Over the past months it has become increasingly clear that the decades of work that have been done to move the dial forward has quickly reverted back due to a lack of effective action. How can we harness the lessons learned during and post pandemic recovery and plan for cities that continuously strive for gender equality and inclusivity? For the past 11 weeks I had the opportunity to participate in an online systems course with 3 other group members. With these friends from Brazil, France, and Denmark we had the task of analyzing a complex system. Having recently finished reading the book Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men by Caroline Criado Perez, I was struck by an example of post disaster management in Gujarat, a state in western India. As communities began to rebuild after an earthquake, the majority of housing had been destroyed and new homes were needed. Given that women were not included or consulted in the process, homes were constructed entirely without kitchens, thereby impacting essential daily tasks[i] (p.575). This example, in addition to similar stories from group members, resulted in us choosing the complex system of gender equality for disaster management in informal settlements. As none of us had direct experience with this topic, the process involved research and evolving iterations of a systems map and included feedback from practitioners with applicable experience. Overall the main takeaways from the systems exercise were that gender inequality was pervasive throughout all levels of society. Therefore, broader lasting changes are required to ensure pre and post disaster management is improved. This has been prominent previously where “women’s care-taking responsibilities also have more deadly consequences for women in pandemics. Women do the majority of care for the sick at home” (Criado Perez, p. 592). Globally, women make up 70% of healthcare workers. In the United States, although women made up 49% of the overall workforce prior to the pandemic they have accounted for 55% of the job losses in April . In Canada 80% of non-profit and charity workers are women and a recent Canadian Women’s Foundation survey found that 82% of organizations fear they may have to close their doors due to COVID-19. In a handful of countries including New Zealand, Germany, Finland, and Taiwan, Province of China, exemplary female leadership at a national level has finally received some deserving attention . At many other levels however, the disproportionate inequality has expanded the cracks in our systems. In Academia, women have noticeably been publishing less and, in the UK, public backlash against scientific advice have further reduced the potential to have brilliant women experts participate in panels and events. Across the entire world, women in parenting or other care-giving roles have been taking on additional full-time roles, while in many cases continuing to juggle full-time work. For many women, the work-life balance that was already skewed against our gender is even more precarious at a time with increased uncertainty and toll on our well-being and mental health. In February 2020, the Royal Town Planning Institute published a report on Women and Planning based on a study that aptly notes that “while gender equality is crucial to all parts of society, it is particularly essential to planning because the lack of gender diversity affects not only the way we design and plan, but also who we design and plan for.” UN Habitat and the UN Secretary General have also since stated that a gendered response to COVID-19 is an absolute necessity. Along with their March press release UN Women included an inspiring image of Equitera[ix], where gender equality is real and Sustainable Development Goal 5 is achieved. The vibrant illustration by Ruby Taylor reflects an imaginary place that we can aspire to build. Rampant gender inequality across the world has become glaringly obvious in the face of COVID-19. In response, places like Hawaii have already adopted a feminist recovery plan in hopes of “building a system that is capable of delivering gender equality”. As planners and city builders, we have tremendous opportunity to advance planning to create cities that are no longer just a colorful, imaginary concept or visionary statement in a policy document. We have the chance to harness the cross-disciplinary partnerships and innovation that have resulted from this global crisis to truly achieve an equitable recovery. By shifting processes to focus on co-benefits and requiring methods such as Gender Based Analysis (GBA+) in all policies, programs and services we can prioritize planning that results in more equitable and resilient communities for all members of society. [i] Perez, C. C. (2019). Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men [E-reader version]. Retrieved from https://www.kobo.com/ca/en/ebook/invisible-women-7 Previous Back to Top Next

01 January 2017 < Back CAP Fiji Declaration 01 January 2017 CAPs Fiji Conference was the first major international planners’ conference held after Habitat III. Recognising the huge significance of the New Urban Agenda so recently approved at Habitat III, CAP delegates from across the Commonwealth agreed the CAP Fiji Declaration. The Declaration calls on Commonwealth Governments at national, sub national and local levels to take actions as a matter of urgency to help deliver UN-Habitat’s New Urban Agenda (approved at Habitat III in Quito in October) and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG11 to make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable. In taking such actions the Declaration calls on Governments to recognise the crucial role of planners and spatial planning in achieving success. This Declaration is a major initiative for CAP and will be used by CAP members through 2017 and beyond to promote the importance of planning in the Commonwealth and to urge action at all levels of Government. Representing some 40,000 planners in 27 Commonwealth countries CAP plays a major role in promoting the value of planning around the world – the Fiji Declaration will help enormously with this. The full text of the Declaration is available here: Fiji Declaration Sustainable-Development-Goals.png Sustainable-Development-Goals.png 1/1

07 July 2020 < Back Survey of Planning Built Environment Professions Released 07 July 2020 A survey of Planning Associations and Built Environment Professions in the Commonwealth released on 24 June. Responses from 4 disciplines across 33 Commonwealth countries were received. The key findings of the survey reveal that: There is a critical lack of capacity in many of the Commonwealth countries which are rapidly urbanising and are among the most vulnerable. There is a lack of educational and institutional capacity to grow the professions fast enough in many Commonwealth countries. There is increasing recognition of weakness in built environment policy (ie planning policy and building code) in many Commonwealth countries in terms of standards, implementation, and enforcement. The survey results are a critical tool to consider the capacity of many Commonwealth countries to resource the growth of their cities and are available for use by the profession at http://commonwealthsustainablecities.org/survey/ 1/0

31 May 2018 < Back Committee of the Whole - Meeting with Accredited Commonwealth Organisations 31 May 2018 The Committee of the Whole (COW) meeting of High Commissioners or other Senior representatives of all Commonwealth countries took place on 20 March 2018 at Marlborough House, London. The meeting included an opportunity for civil society organisations to present to COW issues which civil society wishes to promote to heads of Government. CAP, represented by Clive Harridge, worked with the Commonwealth Association of Architects (CAA) on behalf of all civil society organisations to prepare a paper for COW entitled “A More Sustainable Future”. CAP was most honoured to be given this responsibility. The paper was one of five papers presented by civil society to COW, the others being: A Fairer Future A More Prosperous Future A More Secure Future Partnerships in the Commonwealth The full civil society report including the section prepared by CAP and CAA is available here: Submission by Commonwealth Civil Society Organisations 2018-Committee-of-the-Whole.jpg 2018-Committee-of-the-Whole.jpg 1/1